Wild Medical from the Hedge: Haws

Pasture rose flower in summer

 

In 1987 I was in my last year of college, starting my first BIG job, building a career, in my new (and not long lasting) marriage, and my great aunt had passed away and left me her farm.  At the age of 22 my life was very much ahead of me and I was pretty overwhelmed at all the ways it was pulling me.  As my new husband and I was moving into our new and my permanent home, I was driving the long drive to Madison to finish my Masters and the long drive to LaCrosse for my new job.   The farm had no electricity, no running water and my husband, who at first thought it would be fun to play Grizzly Adams, was finding out that living without electricty was only fun for a short period of time.  As a way of life it takes a good deal of human power.  Money was beyond tight, we had to look up to see broke--we had so many college loans. lol  I have to admit, the year of 1987 was a crazy year. 

And right in the middle of it all, I got sick...not just your run of the mill sick, but really, really sick.  Now I don't get sick that often.  One of the joys of being raised on a farm is that farm kids are exposed to billions of germs on a daily basis.  Our immune system has to be strong.  I have always been the one to take care of sick people, I very seldom AM sick people. :-)

But in the early winter of 1987 I got sick and because I didn't want to do a half ass job of it, I got sick all the way.  lol  I had an upper respiratory infection that started with my ears and then spread to my sinuses and my lungs.  By the end of the illness I had pneumonia that put me flat on my back in bed, something that I felt I couldn't afford to do.  The main problem was that I didn't listen to my body the way I should have. 

See, when a person gets sick, their body will tell them what to do.  The big one is REST!!!  But in our modern day world 'rest' is a four letter word.  Only lazy bums rest, the rest of us need to keep busy, busy, busy.  The problem with that brainwashed way of thinking is that it often leads to stress and I find that stress is the number one reason most people's immune systems are not strong.   If a person gets sick, they should automatically stop what they are doing, make a nice cup of herb tea, crawl into a warm bath or put on warm cozy PJs and curl up with a good book.  No, don't watch TV, there might be a political ad on that will cause you more stress.  It is time to let your body, your mind, and your soul rest and heal.

I didn't listen, I had too much to do.  Then my body took over and forced me to rest.  It was rest or die and I guess I chose resting.

One of the things I did do was drive all the way into town (hey, why not infect as many other people as possible) and used our meager funds to buy frozen orange juice.  I at least listen to my body and started some vitamin C intake.  Dang and if that didn't taste good.  My body craved Vitamin C so badly I drank way too much of the stuff, but it was worth it.

Later, after I had recovered and mourned the loss of those few dollars I spent on orange juice my great aunts teachings came back to me.  I didn't need to go all the way into town to by my Vitamin C,  I was surrounded by one of the highest sources of it.  The field hedges are made up of pasture roses or briar roses.  In early winter all that was left of those roses were the haws or hips.  With a calming walk through the fields I could have had all the vitamin C I wanted for no cost.  Four haws have all the vitamin C of one orange.

Pasture rose haws or hips in early autumn

 



I think it was one of the first reminder lessons I received after college.  Some of the best cures for illness if it is done early enough in the illness are free.  It doesn't cost anything to rest, and a stress relieving walk to gather rose haws may do more to boost the immune system than all the pills in the world.

Roses come in many different varieties, some wild and some domestic.  They have been part of many a legend and many magical journeys into love start with the lovely scented flowers.  People spend big bucks raising prize winning roses and they are the number one flower entered into flower judging contests.  Humans have had a love affair with the rose since before history was recorded.

And with good reason.  Wild roses not only are easy to grow, but sometimes they are hard to get rid of if you decide you don't want them.  Multi-flora roses are listed as an invasive here in Wisconsin, and without grazing or mowing the pasture roses of my hedges would take over the fields.  The wild roses can also spread very quickly so that is a very short period of time, without much work from we humans, there can be a bumper crop of rose petals and haws to gather.  Wild roses also don't seem to suffer from the weather; cold wet, dry, hot, it doesn't matter to the roses, they keep producing.  Now, of course, I am talking about wild roses, some domesticated roses need more care than a newborn infant and don't produce much of any haws.

Both the flower and the haws have been eaten and used in medicines for generation.  As I stated the haws are high in vitamin C and a great immune system booster.  A tablespoon of rosehip syrup taken throughout the first signs of a cold can either stop that cold in its tracks or lessen the symptoms and shorten the illness.  The flowers can be eaten in salads and spread over bath water to help relieve stress. 

A wonderful and easy Rose Petal Jam is made like this:

Gather several quarts of rose petals.  Cut off the white tips and chop the rest of the petals to fine.  For every two parts of petals you have at one part of water and one part of honey.  Add one teaspoon of lemon juice to whatever you have unless you have gallons of it and then maybe add another teaspoon.  Simmer for around 30 minutes (don't go too far over this) and pour it into hot, sterilized jars.  Cap with tight covers and store in a dark place.  This makes a traditional gift for lovers and marriages.  the flavor is delicate and if I eat it in the winter it gives me a shiver, like summer is peeking out of the snowy nights, reminding me She will soon be back.

Rose petals are for summer but rose haws or hips are for winter.  They will stay on the bush long into the frozen months and can be a winter survival food for those who are lacking in the vitamins that summer usually gives.  I pick tons of them and put them up dried or in the following syrup that I I use in many of my medicines to help boost the immune system.

First, get your water bath canner boiling, you'll want it already to a boil so that you can process the filled jars as fast as possible.  Vitamin C is light and heat soluble so you don't want you syrup to be heated any longer than needed.  Also you'll probably want to be boiling some jars so they are sterile and ready when your pulp is.  I usually use 1/2 pint jelly jars because once these are open the syrup will only last two weeks at the most and then you will be making a tiny amount of rose haw mead.

New batch of cleaned haws ready for processing

The easiest way to process wild rose haws is with a food mill.  I know that I talk about these gadgets alot but I use mine so much I don't know how people live without them.  Rosehips are not super fleshy, so the best way to use them is to first clean off both the stems and the blossom ends.  Then mash up the haws.  This can be done with a mortar and pestle or by running them a couple times through the food mill grinder and then take them back out.  From there it's easiest to add some water.  Depending on how dry the crushed hips (haws) are, I can add up to equal parts water to crushed haws (hips).  I let this soak for around five ten minutes and then back into the food mill they go.  The softened flesh of the haws will now pass through the mill while the hard seeds stay in the strainer.  I may add a bit more water to the seeded pulp if it seems like there is still a good amount of it not going through the mill. 

Haw pulp with seeds

Milling the softened haw pulp

Then you have a wonderful smelling seedless pulp.  The seeds you can plant or share with others.  Sharing rose seeds is a sign of love.

Seedless haw pulp ready for honey to be added

From here mix about 1/3 to 1/2 of honey compared to the amount of rose pulp you have.   Quickly put into your sterile jars and drop these into your boiling water bath canner.  Now the honey is a sugar and will kill off all the bacteria that might be lurking on the hips.  But what you need to kill off is the yeast that will make your honey/water/haws syrup into a bubbling mass of rose haw mead.  Now rose haw mead is okay, but I would rather make gallons of it and not one cup of it at a time.  lol   So we are just going to heat it up enough to kill off the wild yeasts that lurk in the water, the honey, the haws and the air around us.  Boil the jars for 10 to 15 minutes, NO LONGER.  You don't want to kill off that wonderful Vitamin C.

Take the jars out of the boiling bath immediately and let cool in a dark place.  Make sure they have sealed, label and put them on a shelf in a dark place or cover the jars with a heavy towel to keep the light out.   

Haw syrup on its way to the cellar

 

Feel that first scratchy tickle of a cold hitting the back of your throat?  A nice cup of elder flower tea with a tablespoon of haw syrup to sip on throughout the day can keep it at bay.  Just make a new cup of tea when the last one is finished and keep sipping on it all day. 

Two things about haw syrup; first, once that jar is opened it MUST be stored in the fridge and still will only last for at the most two weeks before it starts to ferment.  If you do a lot of fermenting and so have a lot of wild yeasts in the air (like me), it won't even last that long.  That's why I only use 1/2 pint jars so that I know I can use it all up before it "goes bad". 

Also this has a HUGE amount of vitamin C, much more than the same amount of orange juice.  If you have diarrhea, this will make make your symptoms worse.  Your body can't truly overdose on vitamin C because it gets rid of it through your sweat, urine and stool.  You stool will get softer if you take a large amount of vitamin C and this can dehydrate your body.  That's not what you need if you are getting sick because a fever can dehydrate you body all on its own.

 So, I have been putting up haw syrup all morning and I think I am set for whatever the winter is ready to throw at us.  It feels good knowing that I have an ally for my immune system sparkling in jars down in the cellar.  No more needing to run into town while I'm sick, worrying if I have enough money.  I will take my medicine from nature and then crawl into bed for the rest that allows my body to heal itself.  Lessons learned. :-)